Bitcoin’s First Week of ‘Uptober’: Record High Prices

Let's get to the big story breakdown.

Well, this morning we are looking at Bitcoin holding well above the 120,000 level after hitting new all-time highs above 125K.

The crypto major is being driven by strong institutional demand as well as some record inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs.

So will assets under management and Bitcoin funds surge to 1 trillion building on the? surge past $200 billion.

Well, with the crypto market in the mid of October gain, we are keeping an eye on momentum as well as price action.

Joining me this morning is Bitwise CIO Matt Hogan.

Matt, good morning.

Thank you so much for joining me.

So I do want to start out with this question that $1 trillion target, what would need to happen for us to actually get there?

Yeah, I think we're going to get there in two ways.

One, I'm very bullish on the long term price of Bitcoin.

So as the price of Bitcoin goes up, the $200 billion in Bitcoin ETFs increases along with it.

And the second is we need to see mainstream financial advisers and institutions start to carve out 12, or 3% of their portfolio for Bitcoin, and I think we will.

Just to give you one example. over the last week, Morgan Stanley put out a big paper allowing its advisors to allocate into Bitcoin for the first time ever.

Those advisors controlled $2 trillion.

If we see 3 or 4% from that audience, that's $80 billion alone.

You start to add up these chunks and, and, and process it over time with a rising Bitcoin price, and I do think eventually we could get to that $1 trillion level.

And Matt, as we head further into the final quarter of 2025, we're getting your end price targets whether we're talking about the equity averages gold or Bitcoin.

So could Bitcoin realistically reach 150K by your end?

And for you personally, what technical or macro factors will be the most critical to watch?

I think it could absolutely hit 150k.

I think it could end the year quite a bit higher than that.

In fact, if you look at the Wall Street predictions, these are traditional Wall Street analysts.

I'm seeing firms like Citi at 135, JPMorgan at 165, Standard Chartered at $200,000 by year end.

Those aren't crazy crypto degens.

Those are Main Street, Wall Street analysts predicting we could get to 150 to 2000, and I would take the higher end of that.

In order for that to happen, we need to see this debasement trade, which has become so popular and so talked about, continue to be the focus of investors, and I think it will.

Here's one thing most people don't think about.

At the end of the year, institutions and wealth advisors want to show that they own the most popular trade of the year.

Last year they all wanted Nvidia on their balance sheet, so they Added it going into the end of the year.

This year they want to show that they're holding gold in Bitcoin, the two biggest pieces of that debasement trade.

They want to show their investors that they're on top of it.

I think that's going to drive flows, so I'm optimistic for the Q4 price of Bitcoin.

Yeah, and speaking of crypto, I do want to get your take on Sallana.

So I understand that you believe Sallana's speed as well as scalability makes it the preferred blockchain for Wall Street, especially when it comes to stablecoins as well as tokenization.

So for our viewers out there, can you explain why?

Sure, absolutely.

You know there is a boom in stablecoins and tokenization.

There are currently $300 billion in stablecoin assets.

Many people will think that will go to $3 trillion by the end of the decade.

Tokenization is even on a faster growth rate.

The two leading blockchains in this space are Ethereum and Sellana.

As an investor, I want to own both.

The interesting thing about Sellana is it finalizes transactions faster than almost any other blockchain out there.

The initial processing is done in something like 3 or 400 milliseconds, blink of an eye, and that makes a very intuitive experience. for people who are doing things like trading stocks.

I don't think this is going to be a winner take all market.

I'm bullish on Ethereum, but I'm also bullish on Sallana, particularly because from a market cap perspective it's relatively small.

It would only take a little bit of Wall Street interest in Sallana to see that price go up significantly, and I think we will see that in the next 3 to 6 months.

And Matt finally, before I let you go, you said blink of an eye, and believe it or not, we have 85 days left until 2026, but we do have to keep in mind that the government shutdown is in week two.

So when it comes to your timeline for the regulatory landscape and key approvals, what are you watching?

Yeah, I think there are two things to keep your eyes on.

One are the launch of new ETFs and ETPs.

A lot of people anticipate, for instance, a, a group of Solana ETPs to launch in the coming weeks and months.

I think that can happen almost with or without a government shutdown.

But the big thing that should be on crypto's investors' minds is can Congress pass the Clarity Act.

The Clarity Act is the big piece of market structure.

Regulation that would govern how crypto assets sit alongside stocks and bonds and our regulatory environment.

If Congress doesn't reopen and get that done this year, I think that's a setback for crypto.

If it does, I think it's an accelerant that will push prices to all-time high.

So fingers crossed, we get the government open, we get the Clarity Act through, and I think it's smooth sailing into the end of 2025 and into 2026.

OK, Matt, well, we will have to leave it there for today, but as always, thank you so much for joining us and safe travels.

Thanks for having me.